Poem: The Book of Love
My beloved asks me,
What is the difference between me and the sky?
The distinction between you both
Is that when you laugh, my dear,
I forget the sky.
Love, dear one,
Is a beautiful poem inscribed upon the moon.
It is drawn across all the leaves of the trees,
And etched on
The feathers of birds and the raindrops.
Yet, any woman in my country
Who falls for a man
Is thrown with fifty stones.
Oh Lord, my heart is no longer sufficient,
For the one I love equals the world.
So place another one in my chest,
To fill the space of the universe.
You still inquire about my birthday,
Record this, then, of what you do not know:
The date of your love for me is my birthday.
If the jinn were to emerge from its bottle
And say to me: “Here I am,”
You have one minute,
In which to choose everything you desire,
From pieces of ruby and emerald.
I would choose your eyes without hesitation,
Those dark eyes
That are wide and rain-filled.
I never ask my Lord
For anything but two things:
To protect those eyes
And to add two days to my life,
So I may write poetry
About these two pearls.
Poems of Old Love
Amidst the ruins, we were given to each other,
Our faces in the sand.
When the summer winds pass,
We gently unfold the handkerchief.
Slowly, slowly,
And we dwelled in the fold of two songs, like captives,
Dodging the drops of dew.
Come once to my mind,
Oh sister!
For the late hours of night
Strip me of color and shade,
And shield me from humiliation.
In your eyes, my old moon,
My roots pull me
To a blue slumber
Under the sun and palm trees,
Away from the darkness of exile,
Close to the warmth of my family.
I longed for childhood in you
Since the spring birds flew away,
The trees became bare,
And your voice, oh how it came,
Sometimes from the wells,
And sometimes the rain would sprinkle it for me,
Pure as fire,
Like trees… like flowing poems.
Come,
For there was something in your eyes that I desired,
And I was waiting,
Draw me to your arms,
Bind me as a captive,
Forgiven by you.
I longed for childhood in you
Since the spring birds flew away,
The trees became bare.
Poem: I Remember Layla and the Past Years
I remembered Layla and the past years,
Days when we didn’t fear the diversion of play.
On a day like the shadow of a spear, I shortened its shade,
With Layla, it entranced me; I was not careless.
In Thamdain, Layla’s fire appeared with my companions,
With the same dusk nourished the animals.
The seer of the people said, “I spotted a star,”
That shone in the darkness of the night, solitary and Yemeni.
I replied, “No, it is Layla’s fire that has blazed,
With its light soaring; it became clear to me.”
Would that the riders had not crossed the dusk,
And would that the dusk had walked the riders through the nights.
Oh night, how many pressing needs haunt me,
When I come to you at night, I do not know what they are.
My companions, if you do not weep for me, I request
A companion, should I pour my tears, to weep for me.
I do not traverse the youth except in ardor,
And I do not recite poetry except for healing.
Allah may gather the distanced souls later,
When they suspect with all suspicion that they will not meet.
May Allah curse the people who say that
We have found a cure for love throughout our lives.
Love Without Limits
Oh my lady,
You were the most important woman in my history,
Before the end of the year.
Now, you are the most significant woman
After the birth of this year.
You are a woman I cannot measure by hours and days,
You are a woman
Made from the fruits of poetry
And the gold of dreams.
You are a woman who lived within my body
Long before millions of years.
Oh my lady,
Woven from cotton and mist,
Rainfall of rubies,
Rivers of Nahawand,
Marble forests.
You swim like fish in the waters of my heart,
And dwell in my eyes like a flock of doves.
Nothing will change in my affection,
In my feelings,
In my sentiments… in my faith,
For I will remain steadfast in Islam.
And She Who Was the Moon in Form
And she who had the moonlike form,
Now sings to the heart’s chief, intoxicated.
Indeed, the eyes that are in her glances have a captivating charm,
They have slain us without resurrecting our slain.
I said: “You have excelled, my desire and my hope,
So let me hear you; may God reward your kindness.”
Oh, how lovely is the mountain of Rayyan from the mountain,
And how lovely is the resident of Rayyan, whomever they were.
She said: “Would that your soul had saved you better than
This, for the heart’s lover is often perplexed.”
Oh people, lend me your ear, for I am in love,
And the ear often loves before the eye does.
I said: “You have performed well; you are the rising sun,
Igniting in my heart and soul flames.”
So let me hear a melodious and cheerful voice,
To further excite a loving heart in you.
Oh, if only I were a split pomegranate,
Or from the stems of basil, a sweet fragrance.
Until she finds my scent pleasant,
And we are in solitude, I once resembled a human.
She moved her lute, then bent with joy,
And echoed forth, keeping nothing hidden.
I became the most obedient of all Allah’s creations,
For my heart was disobedient to most people in love.
I said: “You have delighted us, oh jewel of our gathering,
So give us, for you have first favored us.”
If I had known that love would kill me,
I would have prepared a shroud before meeting you.
So she sang a melodious song that enchanted us,
Awakening joy, causing our eyes to water.
Allah does not kill one whose affection remains,
And He kills those of deception sometimes.
Do not reprimand me, for I am one who remembers her,
Intoxicated; how can intoxicated ones rebuke the sober?
I did not know her description while awake; I learned about it
While I was lost in her dreams sometimes.
She offered me a kiss, and I embraced it,
A fairy betrothed to a human in dreams.